AGFAJ: The Force Awakens
by BlazeMarko14
Summary: Same guy, different time. 17 year old James Kentic finds himself transported into Star Wars The Force Awakens, but he has no knowledge of how he got there, what to do, and what will actually happen because he hasn't seen the movie yet! It isn't long before he meets up with Rey and Finn and is thrown into the adventure of a lifetime. It's him versus the First Order. (ReyxOC)
1. Chapter 1: A Burning Meet

**My absence has been noted and life is just kinda coocoo at the moment, but I ain't gone, but updates are gonna come sporadically. However, I just am typing this story because I love Star Wars The Force Awakens, but I always like to rewrite the story with my character, Blaze Marko/James Kentic, and change history cuz that's what he's best at. This is the first chapter so...enjoy!**

 **I'll continue based on the reviews I get as well as the number of views I get as well! :)**

 **Also, if it hasn't been clear already, there are spoilers from here on out!  
**

 **SPOILER ALERT!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars or any of the songs I put in there or any of the quotes. But, man, would that be pretty freaking sweet! :D**

 **Oh, and one last thing, Rey is 19 to clarify the age difference between her and James as well as Finn being 20. Ren is still the same age, 29 or 30. Rey's original age in the movie is like 23 or something and Finn is a year or two older so I wanted to change it up.**

* * *

 ** _Luke Skywalker has vanished._**

 ** _In his absence, the sinister FIRST ORDER has risen from the ashes of the Empire and will not rest until Skywalker, the last Jedi, has been destroyed._**

 ** _With the support of the REPUBLIC, General Leia Organa leads a brave RESISTANCE. She is desperate to find her brother, Luke, and gain his help in restoring peace and justice to the galaxy._**

 ** _Leia has sent her most daring pilot on a secret mission to Jakku, where an old ally has discovered a clue to Luke's whereabouts._**

 ** _But, unbeknownst to them all, a young man whom they've never seen before holds the key to everyone's objective. The choice is up to him: the destruction of the First Order, the destruction of the Resistance, or the discovery of Luke Skywalker. The future of the Force is up to him…_**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: A Burning Meet**

 ** _"_** ** _My makeshift savior left me right here in my chains." Darkest Part, Red_**

"Ugh, my head."

That was the first thing I realized.

My head pulsated like a massive earthquake was going on inside, ripping apart the very tissue that was my brain. The pain was excruciating, overwhelming my senses and causing me to involuntarily spasm.

My hands opened and clenched one their own as I rolled around where I was, I couldn't see where exactly due to my eyes being shut tight. But, when I felt something grainy between my fingers, my brain registered it as foreign ground, making me twist a bit more at the feeling of unfamiliar land.

With much strain, I willed my head to slow its rapid expansion of pain and let me open my eyes. That proved to be a stupid decision as hot sunlight burst through the sky and blasted me in the pupils, burning my eyes.

That only made things ten times worse for me.

"Fuck me!" I shouted to the air, shutting my eyes and focusing back on why I was beneath sand. I felt my throat start to close in panic, but I controlled myself almost an instant later as I remembered what you were to do in these situations.

 _Replay what you remember._

The last few things I remembered were completely and utterly clear.

I had been alone in my room, on my computer as rain poured down outside. The hurricane's effects had finally reached us, even if we were farther inland. Within an hour of it being there, the rains got heavier and heavier, bigger droplets of acid rain hitting the house with loud _clacks._

Then, the rain put me to sleep some time later, my computer still on and hot on my lap. The last story on my lap was some Star Wars story I was writing…

My eyes snapped open as I made it to my knees, "Dammit, I'm in a dream."

I frowned to myself a moment later as I regarded my hands. My right hand in particular.

Along my palm were marks from my nails from clenching so hard, and they were bleeding a bit. And, I _felt_ that pain.

I hissed as a few specks of sand made their way into the shallow cuts. In a not so graceful manner, I uttered a few curse words and smacked my hands together a bunch to get the sand out, only succeeding in driving them farther into my appendage.

"Well, this dream is pretty realistic if I can feel pain." I muttered to myself, the last of my headache fading away into the recesses of my mind. I held my hand up and groaned, "Why am I feeling pain?"

Something sparked inside of me, something like recognition of the situation I was _truly_ in.

"Wait, pain would cause a jolt in my sleep." I said to myself, for the first time looking around at where I was. "This dream should be over."

It was true. I was surrounded by sand on all signs with nothing in sight on any of my sides.

I turned my attention to the sky, surprised when I only saw one sun burning down on me.

"Oh, so, I ain't on Tatooine?" I asked myself, looking away from the sun but keeping it within my peripheral vision. "So, where the hell am I?"

Tatooine was the only planet with this much sand and this kind of heat. But, the lack of a second sun confirmed that it wasn't the desert planet. No, this was somewhere else. Somewhere I was unfamiliar with.

 _A planet that might not be inhabited._ I couldn't help but think, but I shook my head, chuckling to myself, "This is a _dream!_ Why am I thinking about populations of planets haha! Any minute now I'm gonna wake up." I sat on the sand, cross-legged, "I'm gonna be drooling on my pillow with my computer half falling off of my bed. Mom will probably wake me up and tell me off for having it like that."

That wasn't a surprising thought at all for me. My mother was exactly like that. Though, if she was caught at a bad time, then she would end up grounding me or my brother for being lazy or incompetent. Sometimes, I had to admit, we were a pack of lazy bones waiting for our next meal to be dumped in front of us as we played with whatever we had.

For me that was my phone and my computer.

"Hey!" I exclaimed, reaching into the pocket of my jeans, surprised but elated to find my iPhone there with my headphones wrapped around the middle. I pulled it out and unraveled the wires around it, "Lucky me! At least I dreamt up this thing with me!"

I quickly put the earphones in and opened my phone via my birthday code. I quickly accessed the music app and scrolled over to my playlist full of just rock songs by various artists.

Soon, I found the song I wanted to listen to.

As I was about to press play, my hand stung again with the same pain as before. I looked at both my palms, laying my phone down on my leg, "Oh, come on. It's just a little sand."

 _And, yet, it is pain and you are still sleeping. The pain is real._

That voice was mine, but it was a voice of reason and of understanding, but also one that didn't deal in incompetent theories such as it was _just_ a dream. But, the dream theory was the only one that made any plausible sense. There was _no_ way at all that it was possible to be on a different planet in _real_ life.

"Maybe I'm just in a desert on Earth. Like the Mohave." I reasoned with myself, feeling my conscience lighten a bit at the suggestion. The inner turmoil I was feeling was starting to fade away slowly.

I chuckled at myself, going back to my phone, "But, it's still probably a dream and I'll wake up any minute." I cracked a smirk, "But, I should enjoy myself with my music until then. No harm in that, right?"

In one quick click, I pressed the song title.

The song started slow, an eerie atmospheric melody settling into my ears and into my mind. Soon, a piano key signaled, gently adding a new light on things as whispers filled the background along with the ambiance that had already been established.

 _You dragged the depths of my soul  
Until you found it  
A darkened room locked away  
I let you in_

Then the drums came in in full, thumping a heavy beat mixed in with a symphony of light winded guitars that added into the fray. The slowness changed into a faster pace, instilling a burst of excitement that the song always gave.

As well at the amount of emotion it inspired.

 _You looked inside then you turned away  
My makeshift savior  
He left me right here in my chains  
But still I whisper  
(I'm calling out)  
Still I call you_

 _I never wanted you to see  
The darkest part of me  
I knew you'd run away  
I waited but you never came_

 _So afraid to be alone  
I tried to let you go  
Still I find you lost inside the darkest part of me_

The band was Red. I had loved the band for all of a couple of months. Their song, _Breathe into Me_ , seemed like a fantastic song to make an AMV for. Particularly a Star Wars AMV or a Dragon Ball Z AMV, or maybe even a Matrix AMV.

The song continued on, and I loved every moment of it like it was the best thing in the world to listen to. It never lost its touch, its special element that made it such a good song to listen to.

Addictive even.

Eventually, the song ended, but I just kept replaying it, letting the song start off again and again and again, closing my eyes and just listening to the lyrics. Soon, however, that wasn't enough and I was growing tired of just sitting in the hot sun with rays of heat pounding from above.

I got to my feet, rummaging through my other pocket, "What else did I dream up?"

Suddenly, something found my fingers and I pulled it out.

I smiled, "My gum!"

Then, I stared at the pack of 5's gum with interest. If I recalled correctly, and I knew my memory served me well due to its photographic properties, there was a pack of 5's gum in my pocket before I found myself in the desert. And, after concentrating on the exact number, I knew that it contained six pieces before – an incredibly specific number for a dream to copy over.

Right?

Carefully, I opened the flap and counted the pieces.

"Six pieces here too." I muttered, raising a hand to my forehead to wipe off the sweat accumulating. _Damn that heat is scorching._

I turned back to the gum, "Kind of a big coincidence, I guess."

Dreams were a world all their own and had possibilities that numbered up to the billions beyond billions. It was a world completely thought up by the subconscious due to previous thoughts or fantasies as well as external sources, such as television, games, or just everyday life. Each dream could be something marvelous or something terrible.

Those were called nightmares.

Yet, dreams were dreams.

And dreams could be broken by two ways. One, by an external source such as someone waking the person up to destroy the dream. And, two, by suffering from a massive jolt caused by an action being taken for or against the person having the dream. That could come from a bullet, a scream, or even just scaring yourself in the mirror in your own dream. There was no clear, definitive way to say exactly what jolts the person awake due to the fact that after waking up in that manner, the person that had the dream will start to forget the dream quickly, including the thing that made them lose grasp of the exciting experience.

My heart pounded as realization finally dawned upon me, "I…I'm _not_ dreaming. This is fucking real!" I looked around, still not seeing anything in my vision. "I'm in a damn desert somewhere! How did that happen!?" I clicked pause on the music in my ears and wrapped the earphones around my neck, tucking the buds into my shirt so they wouldn't fall.

Seeing one place one second and another the next moment wasn't necessarily possible by just normal methods. Someone had to knock him out with some type of drug, then they had to get him out of the house, then put him on a plane or something and transport him here.

But, why?

 _Why take me and put me a random ass desert. Makes no damn sense._ I thought, sourly as I took a few steps forward, feeling the sand shift under my weight.

I groaned, "I forgot I hate walking on sand."

Several years ago it was no problem, but as I got older it seemed to get more and more irritating to always trip because the sand wasn't stable. Or, perhaps, I had just gotten clumsier as time progressed.

I wouldn't have put it past me.

I held on hand up to my eyes, shielding my vision from the rays of sunshine so I could properly see what was in front of my face. And, as luck or fate would have it, there was something way far off in the distance. Easily a dozen miles away or more, but it was the only thing I could see within walking distance.

If that could be called _walking distance_ at all.

"More sand walking." I grumbled, pushing play on the music and letting _Darkest Part_ sing to me. Then, quickly, I pulled out my phone and checked the battery, finding it at eighty-five percent charged.

"Well, I don't have a charger so I better conserve batter for who knows what." I said, opening the settings app and switching it to power saving mode. Once the green battery bar turned yellow, I locked the phone and pocketed it.

A couple of hours later, and about a hundred songs later as well, I arrived at what I saw. It was a large tower of some sort and there were dozens of small little towers with a pointed design pointing to the skies. But, the design wasn't lost on me at all. I knew _exactly_ what they were.

"Oh damn." I said, falling flat on my butt, staring straight at the metal structure a few feet away from me, "It's a moisture collector."

But, again, that didn't make sense.

This obviously wasn't Tatooine, so where was it?

I took my sweat-soaked shirt off of me and wrapped it around my shoulders, "Ok, think, think." I groaned loudly, wanting nothing more than to punch something as hard as I could, but I knew that would hurt so I thought better of it and stayed where I was, angry and confused.

And a bit scared.

I sighed, "On one hand, I'm in my favorite fandom, but on the other hand I'm stuck on a planet I have no knowledge of and it's hot and I'm thirsty and I'm lost. Wait, I basically already said that." I grunted, pausing my music. "First, where am I?"

Then, it hit me like a rock to the head.

"I'm on Jakku!" I shouted, getting to my feet, nearly losing my balance, "That's why I didn't recognize it! I haven't seen the Force Awakens yet and I'm thrown into the movie."

Or was I?

I knew I was on Jakku, but I had no idea of a time period. Jakku was a real planet in this universe so it had been around for a long time. There was no telling when I was.

"And I don't see no Star Destroyer." I said, grumbling to myself as I looked off into the distance in front of me. "May not have seen the movie but I did watch all the trailers. There is supposed to be a downed Star Destroyer somewhere around here if I'm in that time period."

Then, stress over took me as the gravity of my situation fell upon me like a thousand pounds of lead.

I fell onto my back, not caring about the hot sand beneath me, "I'm stuck here. Shit. Shit. Shit." My curses died off into whispers that suddenly bore no fruit coming from my lips.

I sat back up, taking my shirt and wiping the sand off my back then wrapping the shirt back around my shoulders, "Well, think again, J. Just think." I crossed my arms, taking in a breath of hot air, "This place is obviously a moisture farm. So, where there are evaporators, there are people who own them. So, there has to be a farm somewhere around here."

I cast a look around, but before I was able to fully circulate, I heard it. An engine. A roaring engine. And it was getting closer every second.

I flashed around, seeing a large, speeder heading right for me. It was junky and didn't look all that sturdy, but it was certainly traveling at a decent speed.

I quickly got behind the nearest evaporator and stayed there.

I had no idea who these people coming were and if they were driving something that looked so out of date, then I was pretty sure they weren't the best of company. They probably had a bottle of booze and several itchy trigger fingers when it came to strangers.

If Star Wars taught me anything, it's that strangers on a desert planet didn't like to play nice.

Soon, the speeder past and I heard a lot of hollers and shouting coming from it. It made it a couple meters past my direction before suddenly stopping, causing my heart to stop as well.

Slowly, the clucky speeder started to go in reverse. That's when I knew I was utterly screwed.

"Shit." I muttered before leaping out and dashing in the opposite direction. I was on full sprint. Lucky for me, the speeder had smoothened out the sand into hard tracks that felt like concrete. That meant better traction and a hell of a lot easier on the feet.

But, it didn't matter. That I knew.

I turned my head, looking at the vagabonds behind me, only to see their speeder cruising off where it was heading, not even bothering to come at me at all. On one hand, I was glad. On the other, I was insulted that they thought I wasn't good enough to be chased.

I smacked my face with my hand, "Complaining about not getting killed is the last thing I should be doing."

As if on cue, I heard another noise. This time the noise was higher pitched and sounded a bit wobbly, like it was hovering at all times.

I turned to where I was originally running to and saw a small blip speeding off towards me. Within moments, it was in front of me. It was a red, smoothed out rectangular speeder with a net attached to the side. There were an assortment of metal objects within the net, some that looked like machine parts and others that looked like utter scrap metal.

It stopped quickly once it saw I wasn't moving from my spot.

"Can you please move?" A kind, British female voice asked, "I'm kind of in a hurry. I have to get to town before the sun sets."

I looked up to meet eyes with the girl that helped me understand that I really _was_ in the Force Awakens.

 _Rey._

"Uh…" I barely uttered a response before I realized that I was shirtless in front of her. The dust had settled so it was obviously visible now. I was never embarrassed to have my shirt off because of my body. My body was nice. I knew that and everyone else did too. My friends had always thought I was a bit too eager to have it off when I could.

I just told them they were just jealous they didn't have my abs.

But, when I made eye contact with Rey again, her face changed from in a hurry to utterly…girly.

 _I know that look. Oh, shit. She thinks I'm hot._ I thought, then felt a smile tug at my lips. _Well, she's hot too. Shit! Not what I need to be thinking right now. I just need to get into town._

"I'm actually in bit of a predicament. You see, my speeder broke down after my buddy dropped me off in the middle of nowhere." I gave a laugh, "Some friend. Anyway, I'm kinda stranded. Do you mind giving me a lift?"

Rey's face lit up with a smile, "Of course. I don't mind. Just climb aboard."

I smiled and gave her a nod, "Thank you." I walked up behind the speeder and had to use every fiber of my being not to nerd out at that moment. I was about to ride with Rey on her speeder into a town on Jakku in the Star Wars universe.

Oh my best friend would be so jealous.

I leaped upward and flung my leg around the seat and sat down with a slight shift in the weight on the vehicle.

Rey leaned forward on her controls, "Might want to hang onto something."

Realizing there was nothing else to hang onto but _her,_ I uttered a small, "The only thing to hold onto is you."

Rey was quiet for a moment before she laughed a bit, "Then just hold onto me. I'm not gonna smack you, I promise."

"That's a relief." I chuckled, gently, but firmly enough to hold me still, grabbing her waist. "I've had enough bad luck today. Getting slapped woulda just added onto it."

Rey uttered a small giggle that almost went unnoticed by me, "Well, you won't have to now."

Before I could say another word, the speeder lurched forward, its engines firing up half a second later as the sand beneath us blasted in different directions. Suddenly, the fear I had not too long ago disappeared into the wind, making everything else seem insignificant in comparison as well.

I just closed my eyes and let the wind hit me full force and I felt my troubles fade.

For now.

* * *

The ride was pleasant and soon we were arrived at a fairly big junk gated town of some sort. There were plenty of tarps set up all around with various different stations that served as some sort of working corps. There had to be at least a hundred or so people around at the moment, but there wasn't any singularly concentrated congregation of them. They were all spread around.

Rey flipped a switch and the speeder slowly settled onto the ground, hoping off a second later. I followed suit, looking around at what was on the other side of the installation.

There were a bunch of ships on the sand, but most looked like giant land speeders. There were a few quad jumpers and gully hoppers as well as a very distinct T-16 skyhopper. However, no ships really stood out besides that one.

I craned my neck, walking over to the other side of the speeder to get a better look at the ships, "Oh, looks like theirs one more on the other side." I saw the dish of one of the satellites atop, but I couldn't see the hull to identify the ship.

"Can't be that important." I said to myself, looking up into the sky, "But, if this is when I think it is – and I knew it was – then the Millennium Falcon should be coming into play at any moment." I turned back to the small junk town, "Of course, this could be days, maybe even weeks, before the appropriate time." I grabbed my head, "Oh that hurt."

"Are you coming with?"

Rey's nice accent knocked me out of my rambling fit.

I cast my eyes upward to meet hers and I gave a nod, "Right, sorry. Was just talking to myself."

Rey smiled, "That's fine. I do need to hurry though. Plutt won't give me full portions if I don't get there before the late shift."

I gave her a strange glance. _Damn, yet another thing I don't know._ "Who's Plutt? Even from just the name he doesn't sound like the nicest person in the world."

Rey frowned, the first frown I'd seen, "He's not. He's more of a bully than anything, but he runs the ration counter and trade center here in Cratertown."

I wanted to punch something again. I was hearing names that I didn't recognize in the slightest. The trailers for the movie didn't give names at all, just the basic stuff that would be included as well as little hints and pricks at things that gave the viewers excitement.

 _Stupid J.J. Abrams._

"Then, we better get a move on." I said, moving to go into a fast walk toward her and her makeshift travois.

Once over her contraption, I looked down at it, quickly taking in everything she had with her.

Under the black fiber net, there were a couple power converters and a few major components for oscillators. But, the power converts are the things that got me. They were military grade.

For half a second, I looked back at her, then drove my eyes back down to the parts she had acquired.

It was no surprise that I was quite the Star Wars fan and I had read quite a bit of books about the technology that existed within that universe. Power converters were very widely used in transportation to regulate power within the craft to regulate it and make sure there were no upsets in the energy drive. The ones that Rey had were a little banged up, but they were definitely from a starship's engine.

"So, you're a scavenger?" I asked, looking at her as we started to walk at a quicker pace.

"That's right. Been that way most of my life." She responded, the smallest tip of defensiveness in her tone.

"That's cool." I said, "Wait. You said most?"

Rey nodded, keeping her eyes one on particular shack with a brown tarp over top of it. Even from this distance I could see the cleaning supplies aboard the brown, metal and wood top along with another being. An old alien type creature that actually made me lose my breath for a moment.

 _Again, this shit is real._ I thought, waiting for an answer. When I didn't get one, I pressed a bit more, "What were you before?"

"I don't know." Rey said in a way that said she didn't want to talk about it.

 _But, if she doesn't talk about it then I can't get to figure out who she actually is. I have lots of theories, but it would be better to get a grasp on why she's here. Alone._ I thought, continuing to walk the line.

We approached the shack and there was a person beside it. It wasn't the old lady alien thing, it was someone else. He was wrapped in some type of cloth and actually looked pretty menacing.

Rey leaned her head to me, "Unkar Plutt also has a sort of rule over what happens in this town. He likes to think of it as his town, but he doesn't really own it, but without him the people would starve."

"Interesting." I hummed, looking around towards the center of the town and saw another shack, much bigger but still small with people lined up in front of it, all types of metals in their hands. "And that's the trading station?"

Rey nodded once she followed my line of sight, "Yes." She pulled her travois full of components around the small cleaning station and sat down.

Noting the situation, I went over to the net and helped pull it off, then bundled it and set it aside, "Gotta make it look pretty before you show it to Plutt, huh?"

"Makes him more accommodating sometimes." Rey said as almost an afterthought, then I caught her gaze again as I rose up. Again, there was that posh, girly look she had.

Then, it was replaced by a look of helpfulness and kindness, but it also held the look of a scavenger and who did what it took to survive but didn't compromise morals. They had a set path and they didn't waver, but they got whatever job they had done before they reveled in _anything._

Times like this reminded me that the eyes really were the windows to the soul.

"What?" I gave a smile, actually feeling a bit weird to be under her gaze like that. "Do I have something on my face?"

I wanted to die at that point. Or smack myself silly. _Smooth…smooth…_

Thought, instead of laughing at me or giving me this look of disdain, Rey merely shook her head, finding her gloves a moment later and putting it on, "N-No, you still have your shirt off and you'll get scorched in this sun."

I looked down at my body and, for the first time since meeting Rey, found that my back did feel a bit hot. I grabbed the shirt around my shoulders and put it on, finding it to be dry again. I even felt the shirt between my fingers for a moment, actually marveling at how the sweat had gone away.

The heat really _was_ intense.

"Thanks for the advice." I said, taking a seat next to her and finding a pair of gloves on the table. I put them on, grabbing a piece of her findings and getting to work on it immediately, scrubbing off the blackened dust and burns of a battle long since fought.

"What are you doing?" Rey asked, quite surprised by my actions to say the least. I guess she just expected me to hightail out of there without a second glance. Perhaps a _thank you_ and then she'd never see me again.

I smiled, "You gave me a lift. This is the least I can do."

Rey opened her mouth to say something, then closed it. When she opened it again, she said, "Thank you. I don't even know your name though."

I stopped, contemplating her question far more than I should have, but I did.

My name was part of me. A part of me was my name. My name came from my parents and my family was back on Earth, wherever Earth was. But, I was here, so something happened and I was put here. Either by accident or on purpose, I was here.

And, I still hadn't decided yet it that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Without becoming saddened by the prospect of being away from home forever, I thought about her question in a different way. She was asking me for my name, yes that was true, but was it the wisest decision to use my real name?

 _Or create one?_ I looked at the metal chunk in my hand as I unconsciously turned it around and around. _That would be lying. If I lie, I could drastically turn my fate inside out. Anything I do could screw up what's supposed to happen._

"My name is James." I looked up finally, feeling like I had been silent for a long time, but I was sure it was only a couple of seconds from the look in Rey's eyes.

She smiled, her white teeth shining as brightly as the light in her eyes, "I'm Rey."

"It's nice to meet you, Rey." I hummed, not breaking eye contact until the garbed dude beside the shack kicked the table, saying something in a different language.

Rey glared at him, but went back to working, but not before she uttered a soft, "It's nice to meet you too, James."

It wasn't very long before we had about four of the pieces cleaned and Rey said that was enough. She didn't want to get all her portions in one go because then she wouldn't be able to resist it when they were in front of her. She knew she would eat them all without thinking of saving them.

She even gave me one seeing as I wasn't in the best position, being left by my _friend._

 _Ok, so maybe I lied once, but no more._ I thought as we got in line.

As the line progressed, I took a look around again, finding that there was a lot of commonplaces set up with stands that sold different things. But, this place seemed to really lack something: money. I didn't see any credits being traded anywhere. Not even a single chip left a hand.

"Strange." I muttered quietly, turning my head and looking at the ships again. Each of them were in small little stations built in for probably downloading the standard flight data as well as monitoring any anomalies whether it was cargo or stowaways or even a leak in the ship's cooling tanks.

Soon enough, Rey and I stepped forward.

Rey reached up and put her part down on the counter. But, before he took it, Unkar Plutt looked at me, giving me a stare, "Hey…I haven't seen you around here before."

I stared at the fat abomination for a ration man – or bully – and I gave him a shrug, "Well, there's an explanation for that."

"Which is?" He narrowed his eye sacks at me.

Rey spoke up, "He's with me. He's my friend."

"A friend of Rey's huh?" Plutt's voice was laced with suspicion.

I cast Rey a grateful smile, then turned back to Plutt, feeling excitement rise in my chest, "Indeed. Now, this is the trading center right? Or do I have to go to the other guy across town who's trading for double what you are?"

Plutt seemed confused and enraged by this at the same time. He quickly swiped Rey's compactor off the desk, "This piece is worth…one portion."

Rey regarded Plutt with irritancy, and it looked like she'd worn that face many times before when in his presence. But, nonetheless, she took the portion and wormed out of the line. She didn't make it far before she just stood aside, waiting for me.

I pushed the power converted onto the desk and spoke. I was normally good with people of all ages and races, but this was a bit out of my comfort zone. However, it was still talking. And I excelled at running my mouth. It would either make them like me, or make them annoyed enough where they would give me what I asked and send me away.

"What you've got there is a military grade power converter." I jumped up, putting my elbows on his desk as I pointed to the shaft within the core, "This little thing will put out about twenty times the power of a regular converter because of the density of the core as well as the metal surrounding it."

Plutt gave a snarl and I jumped back down.

I crossed my arms, "I'm gonna guess that it's worth at least ten times what you gave Rey."

"I'll give what is due." Plutt said, spitting as he spoke.

 _He's like my mother. Stubborn as a mule._ I thought, holding a hand up, "I could always go find another person to trade with."

"I'm the only one with the portions." Plutt said, dismissing what I had said mere minutes ago. I wondered if he had even heard my comment at all.

"Perhaps, but other people stockpile." I said, putting my arm back under my other arm across my chest, "People are smart like that."

"These people scour for their next meal. They wouldn't _dare_ stockpile as you say. They don't have the audacity to do so. They are too wild for that." Plutt laughed, casting a hand backwards towards the line, "Just look."

I did just that. What I saw were poor people, scavengers, thieves, and just ordinary sad people who wanted to eat. Men, women, old people, and aliens alike looked at Plutt with the same look. The look of utter submissiveness. They would do what they had to in order to eat or feed who they cared about. Greed, sorrow, sadness, and hunger stared back at me.

I turned back to the alien, giving him a hard stare, "Looks can be deceiving, Plutt."

"But, these people only know one thing: that I control whether they live or die." He said, his rumbling voice only amplified by him leaning his face forward at the gate.

I looked down for a moment, then smirking, "You wanna take that bet though, Plutt. You've been right for so wrong…" I jumped back up, causing the alien to step back a bit inside of his box, "What if you're wrong?"

Plutt was silent, the skin above his eye flattening at an angle to resemble a glare, but it did not intimidate me. I had seen scarier faces from my thirteen year old brother. Hell, my dog.

The people behind me started to murmur things, but I could not heart them. I was sure they were praising me, or cursing me for upsetting the system like I had. Maybe they were afraid of Plutt taking his anger out on them, or they were afraid that Plutt wouldn't show them the same act of _kindness_ as to give them what they deserved for their parts.

Regardless, it was a stare-off between me and him.

And it continued to be like that for a minute longer before he pulled out seven flat packets with some blue and silver dust inside them. He scooted them over to my arms, grumbling angrily, "Take them. But, if you try to make a mockery of me in front of these people again, I'll have your head."

I felt the gravity of truth in his words, but I just gave a smirk, "I hear you, Plutt." I quickly scooped up the packets and hoped down, looking at Rey with a victorious smile.

I had only gotten a few steps before Plutt shouted out again at me, "I mean it, outsider!"

I waved a hand at him, "I know you do." My tone was that of an older sibling dismissing the younger sibling because his talking was irritating.

Rey's face was shocked. She didn't say anything till we started walking, "I've never seen anyone stand up to Plutt like that. Not even I do it for fear of him denying me the portions."

"And that's how he controls people, Rey." I said, looking at the packets in my hands. "Through fear."

"I see." She said, staring at my hands too.

I smiled at her and took three of the packets and dumped them into her hands, "Here. It was your part so we should share what we got."

Rey's face, even though already a bit red from the heat exposure, turned a bit crimson as she could do nothing as the packets flew into her hands, "T-Thank you."

I chuckled, feeling at ease even though I was in a strange environment, "No problem, Rey. It's the least I can do for you." _You did kinda save my life._

As we approached the speeder, I looked up at the sun, or rather diagonally at the sun. It was going to be dark soon. It was only a matter of time.

"I didn't think about that." I muttered to myself, casting my eyes to the sand now. "Didn't think about that at all. Was so focused on the dream theory that I didn't think of having a place to stay."

Rey leaped atop her speeder and started the engine. I stood beside the speeder, thinking of a way to approach the subject gently, "Uh, Rey?"

Rey was in the middle of putting her goggled hat on when she turned to me, with that look in her eyes returning, "Yeah?"

"You mind if I dine with you?" I said as chill as I could be, when in fact I was, again, slapping myself mentally with how much of a dork I sounded.

Rey hadn't put her goggles on, so I saw when she blinked her long eyelashes at me.

 _Oh, geez, she's never eaten with anyone before._ I realized. _She's been alone this whole time. Fending for herself._

That accounted for a lot of things, some of which I had already theorized but hadn't come to a consensus yet.

"I'm sorry if that's asking too much but it would be cool if I could." I said, words expelling from my brain, and therefore my mouth, "You did give me a ride and one of your parts, and you said I was your friend and friends have dinner together!" I ended with an awkward laugh.

Rey just stared at me for a while, then her face broke out into a wide smile, "I think that's a great idea!"

Without another word, I leaped on the speeder, "Well, let's not waste any more time! Let's roll."

Rey laughed, then flipped the speeder around, the engines roaring back at her just before it lurched forward at top speed. I nearly fell backwards, but I latched onto her mid-section, laughing a bit but my heart thumping at a hundred miles an hour.

 _This is gonna be one hell of an adventure._


	2. Chapter 2: Unsettling Reality

**Here's Chapter 2! I'm on a typing roll so expect updates for THIS story every two to five days. The chapter lengths will be as long as I make them but will range from 3,200 to 7,500 words.**

 **ENJOY!**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Unsettling Reality**

 ** _"_** ** _You looked inside and then you turned away!" Darkest Part, Red_**

The sun set before too long, but we made it back to Rey's enclosure within a good time. The stars hadn't come out yet. That meant there was plenty of light and plenty of time to ask as many questions as my mind could make up, but I had to make sure I was ready to answer whatever questions she had.

As Rey put away her speeder, I shuffled about, looking at the downed AT-AT with so much glee. Never in my life did I ever think I would be within striking distance of a vehicle of this caliber and magnitude.

I walked over to one of the legs and took a seat, marveling at how the sands of the planet had actually smoothened the metal a bit, softening it to a substantial level.

I crossed my left leg over my right leg and leaned on my elbows, looking at the belly of the walker where she had gone in.

Something then tickled at the back of my mind.

At first, it seemed like just nagging feeling, but then it blossomed into something altogether. My head went back to pounding like it did hours ago, but this time I couldn't stop it.

Before long, I fell to my knees on the sand, grasping at my head and gasping for breath. _What the hell is wrong with me?_

Then, it just stopped. No more pain. No more nagging feeling. Just…nothing.

Quickly, I got back to my feet just as Rey came back out, her goggles and hat gone, replaced by her three messy buns on the back of her head and the strands of hair that flew out in different directions as the wind started to blow. The sparkle in her eyes returned, a smile adorning her lips a mere second later, illuminating my own thoughts and causing me to grin goofily.

I held my hands behind my back as I laughed a bit awkwardly, "So, all set?"

Rey nodded, reaching into her attire – which I couldn't decide to call rags, cloth wrappings, or clothes – and pulled out all four of her ration packs, "I've got these!"

I nodded, reaching into my back pockets and pulling mine out, "Same!" Then, I went blank, "So, how do these work?"

Rey waved her hand in a scooping motion, "Come. I'll show you. It's quite simple really."

"Simple is my specialty." I said as I followed her into the belly of the walker.

Not to my surprise, under the tarp that covered the belly was a small enclosure that was full of just the necessities. It was even lacking a few things that people _should_ have. But, like I said, not that surprising.

"Welcome to my home." Rey said, holding her arms out to signify the space she called hers.

I smiled, "Cozy." I grinned playfully, holding up one of the packets, "Now, Rey, show me how this thing works, 'cause I'm getting hungry and this dust is starting to look good. And that's not a good sign."

Rey laughed, taking the bag away from me and directing me to sit just over to the side where a cot was. I did as she instructed and watched as she pulled out a small pan-like device and placed it in front of me. I crossed my legs and titled my head at the thought of such a small little thing turning powder into something edible.

"Oooo!" I exclaimed, clapping my hands to my face, "A mini-pan!"

Rey stuck her tongue out at me, laughing, "Just watch."

I leaned back against the metal wall behind me, crossing my arms, "Oh I am."

Rey reached over to the side of her and held up a cup full of water, "You see this?"

I nodded, regarding the cup with curiosity, "Does it has some type of growth hormone or something?"

Rey laughed, "No. I'm afraid it's not that exciting." She placed the packet within the small pan and poured the water on it.

While reveling in her accent once again, I leaned forward this time, getting a better look at what was happening.

The water swirled around the packet, then started to bubble. Small bubbles formed near the center around the packet before big bubbles completely engulfed it. Within a second of it being taken over, the bubbles retreated, sucking into the packet, and therefore the powder. The plastic coating disappeared and the powder took shape quickly, rising like flour in an oven.

It was a muffin.

"Holy crap!" I uttered, laughing like a little kid, "A freaking muffin!"

Rey smiled and picked up the muffin with her hand, handing it to me an instance later, "Impressed now?"

"Very." I said, looking at the sugar crumble top. _It's like a blueberry muffin from the muffin boxes! This is incredible. I never thought I would be so entranced by food._ "They don't have this tech where I come from."

Rey placed one of her bags down into the pan and made herself a muffin. After taking a big bite out of it, she gave me a glance, "Speaking of that," She said with a full mouth before swallowing, "where are you from?"

I took a bite out of the muffin and, sure enough, it tasted exactly like a blueberry muffin with a sugar top. I swallowed before answering, "I'm from a planet called Earth. It's a long ways away from here. Probably hundreds of lightyears if not more."

Rey's eyes widened, "That's incredible! Why are you on Jakku then? Your friend just ditched you?"

I cringed a bit, remembering that little story I told. Carefully, I answered, "Well, I was…uh…a bit busy with something and I guess one of my buddies thought it would be funny to leave me here as a joke."

"Not a very funny joke if you ask me." Rey said, taking another bite, glee filling her face.

"Enjoying that muffin are you?" I asked, raising an amused eyebrow at the girl. "Your lips might just fall off if you keep smiling like that."

Rey's cheeks turned red as she sputtered out, "W-Well it's not every day you get the Morityberry muffin. Those are in small supply. Plutt almost never gives them out, but I saw he gave you one and the one he gave me one was a muffin too."

"How can you tell?" I asked, finishing off my muffin in three more big bites.

Rey pulled out a cup and handed me it, "The symbol."

After seeing the water, I drank it gently, sending a cold chill down my spine. Drinking something cold after what felt like so long felt so good. I handed the drink back to Rey and she took her own sip, setting the cup down on the floor where it was easily accessible to both of us.

In that singular moment, I couldn't help but feel elated at her kindness. She had been nothing but nice to me since we ran into each other in the desert. Granted, that was only about six hours or so ago, but it was still longer than most people would have given me. The most someone else would have given me would probably have been five seconds.

But, not Rey.

I dove back into the conversation and let my thoughts slip away gently, the good feeling staying behind to warm my heart, "What symbol?" I pulled out my other three packets and held them out to her, "Any of these have the symbol?"

Rey took another bite of her food before she peered at the three packets. Her eyes lit up, but her mouth stayed shut as she pointed to the packet in the middle.

"That one?" I raised my eyebrow at her and she nodded. I smiled warmly and placed all three packets down, then took her free hand quickly. Without letting her pull away, though she didn't show any signs of doing so anyway, I placed the muffin packet in her hand. "There you go."

Rey swallowed and gave me a look, "James, you don't have to give me this. I'm sure Plutt will mess up again and give me another one at another time. This one is yours."

"And, yet, here I am giving it to you."

"James…"

"Rey…"

Rey's resolve crackled and she beamed, her face reddening again, "Thank you, again."

"You're welcome." I said, patting my stomach and letting out a burp, "Ah, that muffin hit the spot."

Rey smirked at me, then burped twice as loud.

I smirked right back at her, then broke out into a laugh, "That was awesome."

Rey gave a mock bow, "I live to serve."

"And here I thought you lived to eat." I shot back, raising both my eyebrows at her, "Or is it eat to live?"

"You're a funny person, James." Rey giggled, putting away the pan-thingy.

Cracking my knuckles, I looked at the ever dwindling light coming from outside, "And you're a cute one, Rey."

At this point, I froze.

 _Holy shit! Did I just call Rey cute? I'm so dead._

Rey froze too, her eyes coming to lock with mine as I went to observe the damage, but I only found shock. Shock suddenly melted away into something else. I couldn't quite say _what_ it was, but it was soft and light.

"Thank you." Rey said, sitting down on the cot, "I don't think anyone has ever said that to me before."

"Never?" I asked, very surprised by her statement. _There's not one guy, or person even, that's remarked at how beautiful you are?_ "I find that hard to believe, Rey."

Rey stared at the ground, "I've been a scavenger for as long as I can remember. I've always toughened it out and went through the motions to survive, so people know who I am, but they've never commented about me like that."

"I'm glad to be the first then." I smiled, my own words barely making it off my lips. _Shaking like a dog._

Rey looked up, catching my smile, "Me too."

Noticing that the conversation was about to enter an awkward pause, I yawned as the sun finally set, light disappearing into the horizon, "Nighttime already? Damn."

Rey reached up, turning on a small lamp, "It's been a pretty long day, but I have one more question for you."

I nodded, "Of course. Fire away, Rey." I gave a playful wink.

Rey seemed to make little of it this time and she continued, "You said your planet was called earth right?"

"That's correct."

"What is your planet like?" She asked, crooking her neck a bit in question, "All I've ever known is Jakku. I don't get to hear a lot about other planets. Mostly I just hear about the First Order or the Resistance."

I gave her a look of utter horror, "The First Order?"

"Yes?" Rey questioned as if she had said something wrong.

"You know they're evil right?" I asked. "Just to clarify."

Rey nodded, "Yes. I know. One day, however, I want to meet someone from the Resistance."

"You're a sympathizer?"

"A fan more than anything." Rey said, her voice as light as the night air, "I want to fly more than anything. I have a simulator, but I want to fly a real Starfighter."

"You might just get your chance, Rey." I said softly, remembering that the Millennium Falcon would be flown by her at _some_ point.

The wind suddenly blew fiercely, blowing the tarp back into the walker. It smacked the lamp off the hook and sent it to the ground. But, just before it hit the ground, I reached out my hand and caught the small lamp.

"That was a close one." I muttered, putting the lamp back up on the hook, "That woulda been bad for such a small space as this."

"Agreed." Rey said, then yawned, stretching her limbs.

Taking that as my cue, I stood up, "Well, I better be going now. It's late and–"

Rey reached out, grabbing my arm gently but with enough force to hold me back from taking another step, "It's night, James. Raiders prowl at night, looking to rob anyone they come across."

I blanched, "That bad huh?"

She nodded, "Worse. You should stay here, for your safety."

I smiled, "Don't mind if I do." I made my way over to one of the walls and curled up in a ball, my eyes already starting to close. My energy was spent. Even with eating, I had no strength to spend.

"That doesn't look very comfortable." I heard Rey say.

I shrugged, "Not really, but it's enough."

"Are you sure, James?" She asked.

I sat up for a moment, blinking bleary eyes at her and gave her a thumbs up, "I'm good. Just need to sleep."

Rey smiled back at me, laying down on her cot after turning off the light, "Goodnight, James."

"Night, Rey." I whispered, "Sweet dreams."

Little did I know, however, my dreams would be anything _but_ pleasant.

* * *

 _Slowly, and gingerly, I opened my eyes, the world around me becoming vague and blurry even though I was awake._

 _I cast my gaze around and saw nothing but white._

 _White walls._

 _White floors._

 _White ceiling._

 _Everything was white._

 _I got to my feet, not even trying to move my muscles. In truth, I hadn't even tried to make a move to get up. My body did it all on my own. It was like being a passenger in a car that you were driving: see everything but be powerless to do anything else besides what was on the course._

 _Then, suddenly, I was thrown backwards, hitting something with my back. My eyes closed involuntarily, and when I opened them I saw a long, metal hallway with lights connected to archway passages._

 _Suddenly, I was able to control my body again. And, the first thing I did was run forward, looking for an exit as quickly as I could._

 _The scenery suddenly changed. The metal walls started to flash, then they started to drip. The bright lights shone directly on the liquid coming out of the walls and I was horrified to see the crimson coloration of it._

 _Then, again, I was flung backwards, feeling icy air smashing against my backside._

 _However, movement was still on my side. Without thinking, I pushed off the air, flying to the side, rolling out of the air and onto the ground. Dirt met my face pretty quickly once I came to a stop._

 _"_ _JAMES!"_

 _That was Rey!_

 _"_ _Rey!" I screamed back, getting to my feet, only to have my face punched by a black glove._

 _I looked up defiantly at the person responsible, but the ground opened up like a giant hole and swallowed me, throwing me into a freefall as I desperately watched the light fade away from sight._

 _"_ _NOOOO!"_

 _My back smacked up against another set of metal, but this one felt rugged underneath my back. The voice, however, wasn't one I'd heard yet. It was obviously male, but it didn't bring up any memories._

 _The darkness consumed me once again, but I flung my hands out, getting to my feet an instance later. A ball of white light surrounded me and gradually pushed back the darkness, but small tendrils that resembled tentacles started to seep into the energy field, reaching out for me. For my heart. For my soul._

 _My head thumped again, causing me to cringe in pain, the ball growing smaller and the darkness getting closer._

 _"_ _Bastard!" My lips shouted on their own as I struggled to hold back the…the…_

 _"_ _The Dark Side." A disembodied voice said in a whisper. A whisper that passed through my ears and fell onto the wind._

 _My body froze, falling backwards into the black, finding it to be full of crystal clear liquid. It wouldn't be long before I would drown, dying in my own weakness. Instinctively, I closed my eyes and awaited my fate._

 _"_ _I want the girl."_

 _My eyes snapped open, my limbs starting to feel again._

 _"_ _So, it's true? You're just a scavenger?"_

 _I struggled to fight against the darkness once again, my muscles straining._

 _"_ _I'll take whatever I want from you. And you won't be able to stop me."_

 _That ended it._

 _The darkness faded away, shattering into glass-like shards that fell down all around me like a meteor shower. But, I was in the center, unhurt. Light circled all around me, blasting through the shards of darkness and creating a new path of light, one that led to something else._

 _But, the darkness didn't fall. The shards gathered up and formed a hand, towering above me._

 _Just as I held my hand up to defend myself, I felt ice grab my heart, jolting me._

* * *

I snapped up, sweat pouring down my face as my heart thumped in my chest. My hands came up, swiping wildly, but no noise came from my lips. I was silent, but I wanted desperately to cry out a name...one that I didn't know the name of by some way.

My eyes soon adjusted to the dark and I realized where I was: still inside the walker. I looked over to Rey, noting just how peaceful she looked even though she knew that her cycle would repeat again the next day.

A shiver ran up my spine and I sighed, "She is sleeping and so should you."

But, I _had_ been sleeping. Something woke me up.

A nightmare.

Carefully, I crawled out to the tarp and looked out, noting how bright it actually was with the moon in the sky. And the stars shone brightly, creating a blanket of wonders that spanned across the heavens. Each of those – some at least – were actually planets with more people of all types.

"Wow." I whispered, hot air filling my lungs moments after.

"I don't understand any of this." I said a moment later, casting my eye around the scenery before me, "I want to go home."

Even though I had already felt the excitement rush through my body and make my heart jump for a fight, I really just wanted to go home. Back to being normal. Though, I still _was_ normal here, but I was with someone who wouldn't be normal for much longer.

I looked back at Rey, "You'll be important for the future of this galaxy." My eyes trailed to her lips for a single moment, but that was enough to make my heart jump a bit, "While I'm expendable."

The wind blew again, hot air gently flapping against the tarp, creating a gentle sound that wasn't at all irritating. It was soothing. It almost sounded like thunder, but this planet didn't experience rain so much I imagined. It really _was_ like Tatooine.

"J-James." A groggy voice asked from behind.

I gazed back up into Rey's sleepy eyes, her brown hair a tangled mess. I hadn't even realized she unraveled the buns of her hair.

"Hey." I said simply.

She yawned and stretched her arms for a moment before lying her head back down, her eyes focused on my face, "What are you doing up? The sun hasn't even risen yet."

"Can't sleep." I said softly, putting the tarp down and letting the darkness take over the room. But, the tarp flapped again, illuminating the room just enough for Rey and I to see each other.

"Bad dreams?" She asked innocently, blinking her eyes at me. The only thing I saw was compassion.

Without fear, I nodded, "Yeah. I can't remember what about though." _Honesty right there._ "It escaped me."

"Then you should sleep now that it's over." Rey said, reaching her hand out to me.

I crawled over to where her cot was on the metal shelf and I sat below it. Her warm fingers touched my cheek with such softness that I wondered for a moment what she was doing. But, there was something in such a simple touch that made me smile a bit.

"I've never had a friend before." She whispered, stroking her fingers over my cheek, "So, it's sad to see my first one like this."

I did nothing but lay my head against the metal, "You're sweet, Rey."

"I try." She giggled tiredly, her hand falling from my face onto my shoulder, "Goodnight, again."

"Night." I whispered, my own eyes closing.

Luckily, a dreamless sleep passed over me.

Morning soon came and I found myself alone.

"Rey." I called out, getting up really fast and smacking my head against the top of the metal walker. "Damn it!" I muttered angrily.

Taking much better care, I stepped out of the belly of the beast and looked around, seeing no one, but I heard something. At first, it was just a scratch of metal, but then it turned into something else.

A whistle of wind.

I flashed around, only to find myself knocked into by something solid. Sand flew all about as I thrashed on the ground for a moment before seeing who was standing above me, a metal staff in her hand.

"Rey!" I shouted, a bit freaked. "You scared the crap outta me! I nearly had a heart attack."

"It's always good to start off the morning with a good scare." Rey winked at me, stabbing her staff in the side of one of the walker's legs as she pulled out a bag of rations with her free hand.

"Breakfast?" I asked, looking up at her from my place in the sand. I'm sure I looked like nothing more than a little child who was just knocked down beside the train set.

Rey nodded, walking over to the tarp then facing me, "Are you gonna sit there the whole day or are you going to get up?" With only that sentence in the air, she walked inside the walker.

I crossed my arms and shouted, "I'm just gonna sit here now that you said that!"

Immediately after, my head exploded in pain.

I gave a small shout as I grabbed my head with both hands. That did nothing to ease away the pain though. It felt like something was squeezing it with metal claws, like it would pop at any second.

But, then it disappeared.

 _What the hell is with this head shit?_ I thought angrily as it subsided.

That had been the second or third time it had happened in not even a day. It felt terrible, but there was something about it that felt like it was being done intentionally by someone else. But, then again, it also felt distant. That distance, however, did nothing to lessen any of the pain.

The pain was real.

Yet again.

I stood up on my feet as Rey came out, the muffin in her hand. She sat down against the walker leg with the pan-plate-thing and motioned me to sit next to her.

I did as she asked, slumping down into the sand again, "That looks good."

She broke off a piece and offered it to me, "Here, have some."

I opened my mouth and pointed with my fingers, making a noise that said was supposed to sound like "feed me".

Rey giggled and threw the piece into my mouth, "There!"

I chewed it slowly, relishing the oh-so familiar taste. Swallowing, I spoke, "Thanks." I gave her a playful shove, almost making her drop the muffin.

She did a double take and stared at me, hard, "That was almost my food."

I gave a sheepish look, "Uh…I'm sorry?" I grinned as big as I could a moment after.

Rey looked like she was going to either hit me or burst into laughter when sound caught both of our ears. It was a strangled and erratic beeping noise that was strangely familiar to…

 _R2!_ I thought, making the connection. _That's BB-8!_

"Did you hear that?" Rey asked, her eyes zipping to where the sound was coming from.

I nodded, getting to my feet the second she did, "I did. Wanna check it out?"

Rey smirked at me, "Read my mind."

"I'm good at that." I shrugged, holding my arms out toward the noise, "Ladies first."

"Thank you." Rey gave a mock bow before dashing forward, plucking her staff out of the sand and rushing towards the captured droid. If memory served me correctly, BB-8 got caught while getting away.

Away from _what_ was the question.

I started after the British-accented beauty, then stopped dead in my tracks. The hot wind blew over my shoulder, whispering past my ear the thing I had already put together.

 _It's started._

I broke into a sprint at hearing more beeps and whistles in a strange, techno sound. _The Force Awakens has officially started. Whatever is gonna happen is gonna happen. That means Finn, the Falcon, all of it. And soon. Damn, not ready for this. I'm gonna nerd out._

I made it over a dune of sand, spotting a massive creature and a small creature with goggles atop it. Rey was right beside the creature, arguing fiercely with the small dude, while BB-8 sat there with its body covered in black netting.

I carefully made my way down the dune's front end and ran up beside Rey, "Problems?"

"It's Teedo." She gave an upset frown, then proceeded to yell at the creature in a different language that was every form of foreign to my ears. I'm not even sure I heard it correctly it sounded so weird.

I bent down to BB-8, starting to untangle it, "And?"

"He's a scumbag trader." Rey bit through her teeth, obviously irritated with yet another person on this desert ball of a planet. "Knowing him he was gonna strip this one down for parts."

Shrugging, I got the droid free, letting it roll behind me, "Well, it's free."

Teedo, as the thing was called, shouted, waving his arms up in the air in what I could only guess was a crude attempt to curse Rey. But, those curses stopped when Rey brandished her staff, holding it at the ready just in case the dealer had something else in mind.

 _Never realized that I might need a weapon till now._ I thought to myself as I eyed her piece.

Teedo grumbled, lowering his hands. He yelled out a command of some sort and the massive creature he was riding stalked on forward, heavy footprints etching into the sand. Prints that would be gone in the hour due to the shifting of the sand.

Rey lowered her staff, "I really don't like that guy."

BB-8 beeped loudly, rolling around in the sand with its impossible-like double ball design. If the droid had a mouth I was sure it would be smiling in relief right about now.

I laid a gentle hand on the droids dome, "Calm down…" I almost used the name of the droid without it being publicly known yet. "…droid. You're safe now." I finished quickly.

Rey walked over in its path, "Nima Outpost is that way. Stay away from the ridge coming up. You can't miss it."

I gave the droid a pat on the dome, "Guessing that you haven't been too well."

The droid warbled out a response, wheeling a bit back and forth in the sand away from my hand then back to it like it was walking a line.

Rey gave it a strange look, "Obviously you're lost."

I turned to her, standing up in the process, "You can understand it?"

Rey nodded, "I taught myself several languages."

"Droid being one of them." I said as a conformation to myself, "I guess it doesn't surprise me."

Rey rolled her eyes lightheartedly, bending down to the droid's level, "Where do you come from?"

BB-8 whistled, its top dome swiveling in a half circle before coming back, techno blips emanating seconds later.

I crossed my arms, "You catch that?"

Rey nodded, "Classified? Really? Well, what are you doing then?"

"Classified? Here on Jakku?" I asked more to myself then BB-8, but the droid ignored me anyway so there was no response to me.

Another beep, low and calm as if remorseful. I don't know if Rey picked up on the tone, but I sure did. It sounded dejected and full of…well, it _wasn't_ full of hope.

 _Can droids actually feel hope?_ I asked myself silently, looking at BB-8.

The orange and white ball droid wobbled back and forth, beeping again and again as if telling a story, but Rey only spoke one word, "Waiting, huh? I know all about that."

"What are you waiting for, Rey?" I asked gently, realizing she hadn't said anything about it before. That was the first time she had even said that word, to my knowledge. _Who exactly are you? Or do you even know?_

Rey's gaze flew to my eyes, a softness in them that was sad but firm, "For my family. They'll be back…someday."

I let the subject drop after that. Quickly, I switched gears completely, shifting the conversation back onto the Resistance droid, "Well, I think you should stick with us for a bit. What exactly are you waiting for?"

Rey answered immediately without having to listen, "His master."

 _Poe._ Was my only thought.

That meant that something happened on Jakku and BB-8 escaped it, but Poe got left behind. The third trailer for the movie depicted that BB-8 was the droid co-pilot of Poe's X-Wing, which meant that BB-8 belonged to him.

 _So, that means the First Order has Poe._ I thought, gazing upon the droid a frown on my face. The frown wasn't meant to be frightening thought, but it seemed like BB-8 wheeled back up just a fraction of an inch at it.

"Well, just chill with us till he gets back. He said he'd come back for you right?" I asked.

BB-8 tilted its head up to me, beeping once in conformation.

I nodded, "Then I'm sure he will." I turned to Rey, laying a hand on her shoulder, "He'll just come with us for a little while."

Rey seemed hesitant, but she nodded, smiling at my hand, "I'm heading to Nima Outpost anyway. I need to trade in the rest of my parts…to _stockpile._ " She winked at me this time.

I grumbled, letting my hand go, "Oh, _ha ha._ Very funny."

"I didn't say anything!" Rey laughed, going back to BB-8, "Let's go."

* * *

When we got to Nima Outpost, we waiting in line again, but this time BB-8 accompanied us. The wait wasn't long and soon we were in front of Unkar Plutt once again in all of his hideous glory. He gave me a shrewd look of contempt before looking over one of Rey's parts, "This is worth…one quart portion."

"But last week they were worth a portion each." Rey argued defiantly, upset at the change.

I frowned at the big alien, "Consistency, man. Don't go back."

"I'm afraid it isn't your turn, outsider!" Plutt bellowed, making me shut my mouth slowly, my eyes still valiantly holding a glare that would have made my mother very proud.

Plutt's focus on me shifted to BB-8, "That droid though, where did you get him?"

Rey instinctively turned to BB-8, but then came back to face the man, "I found him."

Plutt almost smiled. _Almost._ "I'll give you…" He laid up a mountain load of ration packets on the counter, "…sixty portions."

For a long moment, Rey stared at the mountain. Here was a girl who knew how to survive and knew when to walk away, but the stomach sometimes growls louder than the mind.

Eventually, Rey shook her head, just taking the one, "Actually…the droid's not for sale."

I smiled wide as she walked on by towards me, then towards the market place, "I'm proud of you Rey." I nudged her with my shoulder, "That took a lot of guts to not take the offer."

She looked at me with a ghost of a smile, "That could have held me up for a long time. I could have taken some time to actually relax."

"Relaxing is overrated." I brushed it off, casting a glance back at the droid who was wheeling right behind, "BB-8 is happy you didn't sell it!"

Rey gave me a nudge back, her shoulder brushing across mine, "You're right."

We continued to walk through the marketplace for a while, looking at what everybody was offering. Rey walked me through her favorite spots and where there was plenty of fruit. Fruit seemed to be something they sold in pairs instead of separately.

I was tempted to just take one as a joke and see what happened, but I thought better of it and shuffled away from the stands.

Suddenly, BB-8 let out a wail of terror like it was being strangled.

Without dillydallying, Rey and I turned on heel and saw the attacker, a sandy clothed figure with goggles atop his head and a thick-ish build.

"Hey! No!" Rey nearly screamed, dashing forward and using her staff to shove him off of BB-8.

I went to help, but got grabbed from the behind. I could feel the warm breath of someone who hadn't brushed his teeth in a long time and I cringed, feeling my stomach turn. Bracing myself, I wrenched my elbow free and drove it into the man's eye, hitting the socket dead-on.

 _Gotcha! Bastard!_ I thought victoriously as I slid into a fighting stance. I wasn't defenseless. My friends in the ROTC had learned from the Combat Master - as they called him - and they taught me a very advanced from of hand-to-hand combat. It was designed to hurt - a lot- but not kill.

The man stumbled, pulling out a knife of some sort. He made a lung at me, but I turned to the side, letting him tumble by. It was only a second later did I realize he actually _did_ hit me. A medium sized gash opened up on my forearm, crimson liquid running down my arm and dripping onto the sand below.

The pain was there, but it wasn't as severe as I thought it would be.

The man lunged at me again, but this time I grabbed his knife hand. With my other hand, I balled it into a fist and slammed it down on his wrist, breaking it in one smooth move.

The robber had no time to react as I brought my leg down in a sweep, knocking him off his feet and onto the ground where he smacked his head hard. Sand was still sand, but it still hurt to hit your head on it. Hell, _pillows_ hurt if you had enough momentum while heading downwards.

I pulled back, looking at Rey, my adrenaline still pumping like a horse that was running a marathon.

Now, in the trailer, I had seen Rey use her staff to kick the shit out of one of these dudes before, but that didn't even come close to it when she _really_ kicked the shit out of this guy. With her staff in both hands, she drove it into his stomach, turning him slightly to the side before bashing it across his face and sending him to the ground.

"He's not gonna get up for a _long_ time." I muttered to myself, wincing when I felt the pain come back to me. _Damn it..._

Rey got BB-8 completely untangled from the knapsack. After that, she faced me, only to give a shriek, "James! Your arm!"

I sighed, "It ain't that bad."

Rey reached into her outfit and ripped a piece of fabric off of her clothes. She held her hand out, "Arm."

I did as she asked, "Here."

Gently, she wrapped it in the fabric, then checked to make sure it wasn't soaking through. Once thoroughly pleased with the inspection, she took a step back, stabbing her staff in the ground, "Those were Plutt's men."

"Bastard trying to make sure we gave up the droid, huh?" I grumbled, holding forearm delicately, "Guys like him don't know how to take _no_ for an answer." I shook my head in distaste. From one universe to the next, there were still horrid people who only cared about profit and getting _their_ way as opposed to the way of the people.

Rey nodded, "I think we should…" She trailed off as BB-8 started beeping the same tune frantically as if trying to tell us something.

When we approached the droid, Rey bent down to it, listening intently. Then, in an instant, she was on her feet, her staff in her hand as her eyes darted away from the astromech and to something else.

I followed her eyesight and found what she was staring at. The second my eyes locked on him, I almost said his name.

 _Finn._


	3. Chapter 3: Greatest Hunk of Junk

**Here's Chapter 3! Saw the Force Awakens two more times in preparation to writing the other chapters so I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Greatest Hunk of junk**

 ** _"_** ** _You're an imposter!" Impostor, Red_**

In that moment of recognizing who I was looking at, I knew that a couple of things were bound to happen. But, it didn't depend on me. The action that was about to be taken was going to happen as a result of Rey making a move.

Everything seemed to slow down for me as I analyzed her stance.

Her right foot was outward and her left foot was supporting it by being slid back just a bit.. Her body was slightly forward, her back arched a bit as her right hand tightly gripped her metal staff. Her knuckles hadn't turned white, but the edges of the skin had started to, meaning she was holding it very tightly.

The sand beneath her right foot was imprinted slightly more than the sand under her left foot.

On Earth, I had participated in quite a few sports, like baseball and track, so I knew what it looked like when someone was going to run. But, Rey wasn't about to run. She was about to _sprint._ And, if you were going to sprint, you were going _after_ something.

 _Whatever BB-8 said did something._ I thought to myself, time starting to go back to its normal speed.

Without missing a beat, I lunged my hand forward to stop her before she chased after the former Stormtrooper, but my aim was off and I missed her arm. That was all Rey needed. She was off the next minute, dashing right at him with probably not the _best_ intent.

Under different circumstances, I would have laughed at the look of confusion and fear that spread across Finn's face, but this wasn't the time to be reveling in his situation. But, to be honest, a chuckle did escape my lips as he almost tripped while starting off backwards.

BB-8 turned to me, giving me an alarming noise before wheeling off quickly after Rey and Finn.

I sighed, starting my run, "This couldn't just be a nice day." I muttered, dodging shacks and stands left and right, "I could be sipping a coke on the patio right now with my friends, but no I had to be thrown –." My face found the sand as I fell over after hitting something with my leg. Groaning, I picked my head up, "–into the Star Wars universe."

With my forearm supporting me, I leapt back to my feet, eyeing for the two people I needed to find.

But, they were nowhere in sight.

"What the hell?" I whispered, looking around like a child who couldn't find his mother. "Where did they go?"

 _They couldn't have gone far. I wasn't that far behind._ My brain told me, but my eyes told me a different story. Somehow, they _had_ gotten away.

The massive amount of people that had actually accumulated around the stands had suddenly shrunk, I then realized. In fact, it was scarce now. I didn't even see Plutt's men anymore I was _positive_ they would try to make another go for BB-8. Even if they didn't know its significance, they could just get it for parts. Droids like it would be sold for a _lot_ of cash.

"But, I don't see them." My words were lost on the wind.

Flashes came into my suddenly of red beams of light, coursing down, but they weren't real. I could _see_ them though. As one passed by my face, I held my hand out, only for it to disappear, then reappear a ways away, only much more translucent somehow.

"Woah." I rubbed my eyes with the backs of my hands, "What am I seeing?"

Cold wind rushed past my ear, filling me with a sense of remembrance, but also one of discovering. In that instance, I knew what was actually happening. Or, perhaps, I thought I did.

Sunstroke was coming one, or the future was being shown to me.

"Those look like laser bolts." I said to myself, watching as the red beams of translucent plasma flew past me and through the air, going through people's heads, but they continued to walk and go about their merry ways. _That_ was the clincher for me.

Wind rushed past my ear again, this time chilling me to the bone as my body moved on its own, turning around on heel. Before I could even comprehend _why_ I had moved in the first place, it became completely clear to me.

Ten steps in front of me was a First Order Stormtrooper.

He had an advanced E-11 blaster rifle in his hand as he walked in his brand-new armor that hadn't even been scratched yet. It was impossible to deny that the new armor was definitely badass, but that didn't account for the history that Stormtroopers had.

Being terrible shots.

His boots crunched on the sand as I saw him cast a look to the side. Directly across from him on the other side of the row of stands was another trooper, but this one had a black combat vest on with several pockets on the chest area for either ammo or charges. It wasn't really clear.

 _They're looking for BB-8._ It wasn't that hard to put two and two together to make four, but it was still unnerving that they were so close to what they wanted.

The Stormtrooper was suddenly in front of me and he shoved me to the side, his black gloved hand roughly casting me away, "Out of the way."

Something about what he said made my heart pound and my vision cloud. _What is it about people in this world having no common courtesy!?_

Quickly, I checked to make sure the other trooper wasn't watching. When I was sure he wasn't, I walked up behind the trooper who shoved me. I tapped his shoulder once and he turned around, blaster up at my face.

My instincts took over completely. I let myself fall back into what I had learned from the _real_ world. This may have been _real_ , but it wasn't my world.

Using my right arm, I threw it over the top barrel of his gun, giving him quite a surprise to say the least. These Stormtroopers were most likely from a different breed than the others from the Original Trilogy were, but they were still people. And people, no matter what, could get distracted, confused, and outwitted.

"I need this." I said with a smile before kicking my right leg out, bashing it against the soldier's armor plate. He let out a loud grunt and I knew the other trooper would see.

Thinking quickly, I ducked my head under his chest, holding him upright as the other trooper fired his blaster at me. Red plasma struck my human shield and the grip on his blaster was gone. Wrenching it free, I tucked it under the dead man's armpit and fired at the trooper in front of me.

The blast smashed into his helmet, sending burning chunks of metallic-plastoid into the air and onto the sand. The trooper staggered as if just dazed, but then he fell forward, completely smoked. The air, even from where I was placed, smelt like burnt flesh and rubber.

I tossed the corpse off my body and looked around again, trying to find Finn and Rey again, but with no luck. It was only when I heard the sounds of blasterfire again that I knew they were heading back in my direction.

Sure enough, they were dashing towards me, BB-8 hot on their trail as two more Stormtroopers lit up everything _but_ them.

Rey gave me a look as she passed by and I quickly joined the run, firing off a few shots behind me, listening to that iconic sound I had grown to love. But, there was time to reminisce and time to get the hell out of there. And the latter was the best option.

We continued to sprint and the sound of Finn's panicked shouting was louder than the blasterfire that followed.

"Stay close BB-8!" Rey said, ducking her head a bit as more plasma streaked by us.

"Yeah, good idea." I mumbled, firin goff another shot but hitting nothing but air. _Is it me or is it these damn guns?_

Soon, they ran under a covered section that was nothing more than a shack with a large tarp above it to protect the occupants from the sun.

I joined them, holding my arms out in question to Rey as I took a few deep breaths, "What the hell?"

Rey shook her head, "They're firing at all of us."

"They saw you with me. You're marked." Finn said as he rummaged over the counters, looking for something.

"Thanks for that." Rey said sarcastically.

"I'm not the one that chased you down and beat you with a stick." Finn said, soundly really salty about that.

I chuckled, "You beat him with a stick?"

Rey held up her staff, "He wouldn't stop running."

"Coulda just asked instead of chasing me like a crazy woman." Finn muttered, then stopped, turning to me, "Who are you?"

"Name's James." I said, cocking the blaster in my hand, smirking a moment later. _That was so badass. Good job me._

Finn's eyes darted to my weapon, "How'd you get that?"

I gave him a _duh_ look, "Took it from one of the Stormtroopers. They're a bunch more of them here. But, now, they're down by two."

" _You_ took out two Stormtroopers?" Finn asked skeptically, giving my attire a once over.

That made me frown. Again, judging a book by its cover, "Yes. And now I'm guessing we should move before–"

Suddenly, the noise of blasterfire was gone and was replaced by an eerie noise. It sounded like an engine and a whistle combined into one and sent through the air. And, it was getting louder.

Finn's face transformed from skeptical to terrified as he grabbed Rey's hand and dashed out of the tarped shack-station.

Rey growled a bit, "Stop grabbing my hand!"

I followed closely behind, my eyes locked on Finn, but then my eyes were locked on the ground as an explosion lifted me off my feet and onto my face. Smoke filled the air and sand covered my body. If my pants weren't filled with sand already, they sure were now.

Distant voices filled the air as my ears continued to ring from the blast. Turning on my back, the monstrosity that was responsible for such a blast was flying overhead: a TIE Fighter.

"Damn it." Pain filled my senses again as I rose to my feet, collecting my blaster from its place in the sand.

Rey helped Finn up, then ran over to me, "Let's go!"

"Don't have to tell me twice." I muttered, shaking my head to let loose a shower of sand, "I hate sand."

Rey gave a semblance of a smirk before taking off, Finn in tow. I dashed up beside her and soon we were just leaving the inner fence of Nima Outpost. Finn's yelling soon began again, but he was speaking words this time.

"We can't outrun them!" He screamed, running at full sprint.

"We might!" Rey shouted back, pointing forward, "In that quad-jumper!"

"Then let's book it!" I shouted to the both of them, casting a look backwards to see the sand behind us near the fence explode in a blast of green turbolaser fire, causing orange and red fire to rise into the air, mixing with the smoke and sand to create a pretty cool effect. "Because those blasts are getting closer!"

"Hey!" Finn screamed over the shots, "We need a pilot!"

"We've got one!" Rey fired back as if it wasn't obvious that she was a pilot.

Which, in truth, she wasn't _really_ a pilot yet.

"You?!" The former Stormtrooper sounded less than thrilled at that statement. Another explosion rocketed behind us, causing Finn to jump a bit, "What about that one?"

"That one's garbage!" Rey automatically said after one quick look at the ship.

I turned my head to the craft in question and my eyes nearly fell out of my head. _The Millennium Falcon! GARBAGE?!_

"I like the look of that one, Rey!" I said, almost laughing due to the amount of shock at the disrespect towards a pretty beast looking freighter.

"Trust me!" She said back.

As we were within a dozen yards of the quad-jumper, the ship was struck by green lasers, blowing it to bits. A massive explosion ensued, throwing debris and fire everywhere within a special radius that was small due to the explosion mainly shafting upwards into the air.

We all paused for a moment.

"I think the garbage is gonna have to do." I muttered, running off towards the _Falcon._

We booked it across the sands, not stopping or even slowing down for a second until we had to make our way up the ramp.

We passed through the corridors and into the hallways as another torrent of laserfire poured down where we once were standing in the sand.

Rey slowed to a jog for a moment as she pointed to a hole in the ground near the walls, "The turretgun is down there!" She pointed to me, "James, come with me!"

"For what?" I asked, strapping the gun around my shoulder.

"Co-pilot." She said, running into the cockpit.

"This day just keeps getting better and better." I gave a sarcastic laugh before hopping into the room and into the chair, flipping a switch for the power converter's motors to start their charge.

"You know how to fly this thing?!" Finn's voice sounded distant from this gunner seat.

"No! This thing hasn't flown in years!" Rey shouted back, turning to me, "Adjust rear deflectors."

My eyes scanned over the buttons and I took a breath. _Just remember…_

I closed my eyes, then opened them, running my hand over to the side panel and hitting a few buttons before flipping a long switch on the dash, "Deflectors adjusted, captain."

"I can do this. I can do this." Rey muttered to herself, flipping a bunch of white and black switches as well as clicking several multicolored buttons, rumbling the aged ship.

I reached my hand over, over taking hers for a moment. She turned her head quickly to look into my eyes.

I gave her a firm nod, "You _can_ do this. Relax."

The tension faded a bit from her eyes, but the adrenaline was prospect of dying was still there. She nodded back, taking the hand and giving it a squeeze before going back to the controls, a confident look on her face, "Full frontal shaft expansions in place."

I nodded, looking at a scanner on the wall as the green light came on, "All systems go. Go Rey!"

She took the controls, the engines firing to life as the ship started to hover, rising into the air before sliding across the sand roughly on an axis, shaking the entire ship.

"Hold on!" Rey screamed, throwing a large switch forward, scraping the ship across the sand even more before finally getting up and into the air, soaring high up.

"Nice one, Rey!" I shouted before Finn yelled up to us.

"No! No! Stay low! It'll confuse their scanners." He gave the warning.

Rey looked appalled, but she complied, "Hold on! Going low!"

The Falcon flipped into the air, going into a spin before nearly missing the bulk's of the TIEs as they came in for another run. My stomach did a flip flop, but a smile adorned my face. Rey _knew_ what she was doing, even though she may not have had _confidence_ in her own abilities.

"I didn't know that was gonna work." I muttered to myself, pressing a square black button next to an observation monitor, "Rear shields up."

The ship suddenly shook violently as lasers struck the side. Even with the shields, the ship wasn't invincible. If those blasts made direct contact with an important port of any type, then power could be rerouted or shut off completely.

"Fire back!" I shouted backwards, feeling actually pretty helpless at the moment.

Rey's face was steel as she nodded, "We aren't going to last long if you don't!"

The sound of the turret's gun went off a second later, but no explosions followed.

"Aim better!" I snapped, standing up from my seat, "I'm gonna go help him!"

Rey shook her head, "No! I'm going to need you to divert power to the frontal shields in a moment and bypass the external coupling so we can do something."

"What are your plans?!" I asked incredulously, holding my seat for support. "We are out in the open! Not a lot of choices!"

"I agree with him!" Finn shouted up, firing off another torrent of blasterfire. "We need cover!"

From where I was, I saw Rey's eyes light up a bit, "We're about to get some…I hope."

I sat back in the seat, rerouting power like I was supposed to, "This is gonna suck. Do what you gotta do, but do it fast."

Rey nodded, throwing the ship downward over a cliff edge, revealing a big graveyard of Stardestoryers and TIEs as well as X-Wings. She was right. There were lots of big ass things to get cover from, but the TIEs behind us seemed like good pilots compared to my earlier assumptions.

She flipped the ship to the side, then to the other side, narrowly dodging wave after way of green laser fire.

Soon, she was heading directly forward towards the back end of one of the Stardestroyers.

"What are you doing!?" I almost covered my eyes.

Rey grunted, flinging the controls to the left, causing the ship to jack to the left, just barely missing the metal starship. One look at the scanners told me what she was planning.

"Looks like one went around!" I shouted, "Hit this one!" That was to Finn.

The ship bucked and swayed, but an explosion suddenly sounded off, whistling off into the distance.

"Nice shot!" Rey congratulated, letting a bit of glee into her voice before the other TIE came around the bend.

"Rey!" I advised, "Ram it!"

"Are you crazy!?" Rey asked.

"Yes." I answered in all seriousness, "But, this ship is tough. Just clip the wing and I'm sure it'll spiral out of control!"

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Rey groaned, increasing the speed.

I smirked, "Because, it's gonna be a bumpy ride."

She angled the ship for the center of the TIE, but turned a second later, clipping the wing, but not enough to kill it. The TIE circled back around and let loose a barrage of shots, each one hitting the top of the Falcon with deadly accuracy.

"These guys are good." I muttered, looking ahead, seeing a massive engine sticking out from the back of a Stardestroyer. "Don't you dare, Rey!"

"Get ready!" She shouted, not even responded to me.

"Ok!" Finn called back, "For what?!"

"This." I groaned, my stomach flipping as she flipped the ship upside down before righting it and diving straight into the engine. It was a _horrible_ plan.

"Are we really doing this?!"

 _Agreeing with Finn._

The Falcon swerved up and down, around and around, missing the metal walls by centimeters and the connecting ports around the inside of the hull by mere inches. Any closer and we would have been just a distant memory on the sands of Jakku.

"Uh oh." Rey muttered.

"Damn it." I sighed, seeing the dead end, but also seeing the hole, "Hole!"

"I see it!" She cried, thrusting the controls upwards and flying out of the ship and back into the skies, but the TIE continued to pursue us with even more vigor, if that was even possible.

"This guy won't let up!" Rey shouted, throwing a big switch, letting the Falcon go into a freefall. But, just before she did that, I felt my hand get grabbed.

Rey's other hand was the culprit.

Another explosion rocketed the ship a second later, but it was met with cheering from down below.

"Got it!"

Rey flipped the switch again, igniting the Falcon's engines and blasting us into the skies. The rumbling of the ship only lessened as we broke through the atmosphere and into the void of space.

I let out a breath I had been holding in.

Rey did the same, "We did it."

"Yeah, yeah." I whispered breathlessly, staring at our hands for a moment, "That was scary."

Rey nodded, letting go of my hand with a bit of red staining her cheeks. Then, she smiled as she patted the ship's hull, "Best hunk of junk in the galaxy."

"Why did I have the feeling you were gonna say that?" I laughed, my heart still pumping.

Rey threw her arms around my neck in that instance, "Good job. I don't know if we woulda made it out of there if we all didn't work together." She pulled back, looking into my eyes for a bit too long before smiling, "Great job." That part was a whisper, then she straightened, turning to the doorway, "Let's go check on him."

I nodded, smiling wide at the gesture, "Good idea."

The fun had finally started and boy was it tiring.

And, it was just the beginning.


	4. Chapter 4: Old Legends meet New Blood

**And here is Chapter 4! Ok, so updates for this story will happen on the weekend regardless if it gets completed before the allotted time. Now, I might do one on a weekday if it is special or pivotal to the plot. Or if yall just hate my cliffies cuz there will be some of those. Now, also to address something, I will _not_ be copying the wording from the Force Awakens word for word but there will be parts that will be exactly the same dialogue, but this is about changing history. That's James' story. He changes what already happened. Dialogue will vary but I will keep it similar but also different to put a pazazz on the plot.**

 **As always, enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Old Legends meet New Blood**

 ** _"_** ** _Let it out, let it out! Release the panic!" – Release the Panic, Red_**

After about thirty seconds of completely incoherent rambling that seemed to make sense to the both of them, Rey and Finn looked at each other, silent. The silence was unsettling a bit, but BB-8 broke through the silence, wheeling over to my leg and nudging me with a beep.

"You don't need to worry." Rey said, completely ignoring the fact that the droid had asked me.

Granted, I didn't understand him but he still directed it to _me._

"What doesn't it need to worry about?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at the scavenger before me.

Rey gave the droid a pat on the head, then nudged her head to where Finn stood motionless, looking down at the BB unit, "Him. He's with the Resistance. He's gonna get BB-8 home."

My eyes went from Rey's eyes to Finn's eyes about the same time his eyes came to me. The sheer look of panic on his face was obvious, but he covered it a moment later with a look of exhaustion, then interest.

With my arms crossed, I let my mind wander for a bit. _She thinks he's Resistance. I know he's not. This isn't gonna go well._

At this time, Rey turned to him, "I don't know your name."

Finn hesitated, as if he was trying to remember his _own_ name, "Finn. What's yours?"

"I'm Rey." She replied kindly.

I got off the wall I was leaning on and stood beside Rey, "And I'm James. Now that we all know each other's names, should we get back to–"

Without warning, steam blasted up from the grated floor of the next room, scaring the daylights out of me.

"Damn it!" I jumped, then pointed towards the large column of steam rising from the floor, "That doesn't look good."

Rey shook her head, looking very much alarmed by it. She dashed over to the loose flooring of the grate, finding a control hatch. She started to life it, turning to me, "Help me get this up."

I nodded, walking over and lifting the grate plating off and over to the side. Metal clanged against metal as I helped Rey down into the pit, giving her a wink, "Careful down there."

Rey shook her head at me despite the situation, "Very funny."

Getting back to my feet, I smirked, "I know. That's why I'm here."

"Well, be useful and hand me that pilot's wrench." She said, pointing over to a box of tools lain in a pile of miscellaneous things.

I nodded, reaching over and grabbing the tool, looking it over for a moment before tossing it to here, "Here."

"Is it bad?" Finn asked, looking over into the hole.

Rey popped back up, nodding her head, "Yes. Chances of us living are slim if I can't fix this."

"What else do you need?" I asked, casting a look at Finn. He was staring down at where Rey was as if he was entranced by her. In all honesty, he probably was. It was to be expected.

Yet, in the back of my mind, the prospect of him fancying Rey made me twitch a bit.

"I need that." She pointed to the mass of circular attachments and gadgets beside both of us.

Finn held one out, "This one?"

"No."

Another one.

"No."

"Another one.

"No."

Another one.

"The one I'm pointing too." Rey said, exasperatedly as she started to yell, "If we don't patch this up the ship will be flooded with poisonous gas!"

I sighed, reaching over as BB-8 came balling around to my right, pointing at the component with a yellow stripe. I picked it up and tossed it to her, "Here."

"Thank you." She said quickly before diving back down to do her work, before she asked out a question, "So, where's your base?"

Finn's face fell for a moment, paling, "Uh, BB-8 knows."

"He says its need to know." Rey popped back up, resting her elbows on the grated floor, her eyes firmly fixed on the former Stormtrooper, "But, if I'm gonna get you two back there I need to know where it is." Something popped off below her, and she muttered, "Blast it."

Finn turned to BB-8, waving him to come closer. But, before he spoke, he turned to me, "Can you…close your ears?"

I crossed my arms, "I'm sure whatever you have to say is gonna be important so say it."

He groaned, quietly saying to BB-8, "You gotta tell us where your base is."

I stayed silent, content in watching how this entire thing actually played out. BB-8 was a loyal droid that was programed to do what Poe said, but also be a friend. But, Finn wasn't Poe. So, if it found out that Finn wasn't Resistance than it probably had some type of contingency plan to get away, especially if it knew about his former life.

BB-8 warbled out a response, almost cocking its head to the side and I could guess what it said.

 _I thought you were with the Resistance. Don't you know where it is?_ I thought, the words coming together in my head. _That's probably accurate._

"I don't speak that." Finn looked desperate, "Look, droid. I'm not Resistance."

My eyes widened. _Holy shit! Well, good job, Finn. You're gonna get killed. That was a dumbass move._

BB-8 backed up a fraction of an inch before he spoke again, "I'm just trying to get away from the First Order. If you tell me where your base is, I'll get you there first. Deal?"

Rey popped back up, "So, where's your base?"

"Go on, BB-8, tell her." Finn said nonchalantly as if he and BB-8 were partners.

Quietly, I just observed. _Oh, this should be good._

BB-8 looked at Finn, then at Rey, then back to Finn, then back to Rey, then back to Finn.

"Please." Finn whispered fiercely, his face completely bare at that moment. He was asking from the bottom of his heart. In that moment, I saw the fear behind his eyes and the desperation at what his situation _truly_ was.

 _He's a deserter. He'll be hunted. He already is._ I thought, raising a hand to my chin, gazing at Rey, but her eyes were focused on BB-8.

Finally, after what seemed like a long silence, BB-8 whistled and beeped, its entire body shaking for a moment.

"The Illenium System!?" Rey sounded incredulous as she looked to me, "That's hundreds of lightyears away!"

"That's right the Illenium System!" Finn said, smiling wide as Rey went back down into the hole. Then he gave BB-8 a thumbs up, to which the droid gave his own version, a retractable lighter arm, "Get us there as fast as you can."

I shook my head, not believing my own eyes. _That_ worked _?!_

It was amazing what dumb things actually _did_ work when the heat of the situation poured down around you. Apparently, Finn had just gotten very lucky with a droid that carried… _something._

That _something,_ however, was still unknown even to me.

"Rey." Finn's voice made me snap back into the current situation. He crawled over to the crawl space and popped his head over the side, "You're a pilot. You could go anywhere you want. Why go back? You got a boyfriend? Cute boyfriend?"

I chuckled, crossing my arms but also feeling a prick of…jealousy run down my spine, chilling my thoughts for what felt like eternity. It was strange that such a comment from such a pivotal character like Finn could cause so much animosity towards him. Or, at the very least, towards his statement.

 _But, I shouldn't feel like that._ I thought to myself as Rey popped back out of the hole in the floor. My eyes lingered on the soft features of her face, gently gazing as her eye lashes lashed out as she spoke, "None of your business that's what."

Another pang.

Instinctively, I felt my chest twitch a bit. Then, the twitch transformed into a sinking feeling almost like disappointment. But, there was _no_ need to be disappointed. Yet, I couldn't help but feel that way.

Then, Rey's gaze met mine and I felt that twitch nag at me again, but this time another emotion overtook it…and I couldn't explain what it was. Even to myself, it was a mystery locked up in confusing emotions of the human heart.

"Him?" Finn followed her gaze to me. "Is he the reason you want to stay?"

Rey didn't answer right away, smacking her lips together to make a thin line, but that line faded away a minute later into a small smile, "One reason, but not–"

The ship rumbled and shook violently, the lights flickering sporadically before completely blinking out. Even the rumble of the engines had stopped completely. The ship had stopped dead where it was. I couldn't even feel the soft tumbling of the motivators beneath my feet anymore.

"That isn't good." I muttered, "The lights aren't supposed to do that, right?"

Rey leapt out of the hole in the ground, "No!"

Finn and I followed closely after her as she made her way into the cockpit, then into the pilot seat. Her expression was worn, but also disturbed as well as frightened. Of all the reactions Rey had produced so far, fear hadn't been a prominent one.

Granted, it _had_ been there. But, it had been there for Finn to. And for me. That I knew for a fact.

"All controls are overridden." She said, flipping a few control switches on the dashboard that had once blinked with fervor, "Auxiliary power has been switched off as well."

"Can't you get it back on?" Finn's panic wasn't lost on her.

Rey shook her head, raising her head to face him, "We're dead in space."

I took a seat in the co-pilot's chair, pressing a few buttons, but the result was the same. Total silence and darkness.

As if on que, the darkness was shattered by a towering red light pulsating from above like a searchlight. But, common sense told anyone that a light with a red hue wasn't used for finding lost items.

No, it was used for ambiance. As a sign as well as a scare tactic. Different colored lights were used for different functions. Yellow lights meant to warn away civilians from a potentially tragic end if given the right circumstances, or in the case, the wrong circumstances.

I turned to Rey, my face masked with false bravado as knowledge from the past came flooding back, "What about the backburners?"

"Backburners?" Rey cocked her head as Finn stood up on the dashboard, using her face as a steadying tool to correct himself. He peered above at the light, trying to see what was _beyond_ it.

I nodded, not paying attention to him, "The auxiliary dampeners. Power is out, but those run off of their own charge to restart emergency functions in case of engine failure."

It was a good plan, I knew, but something told me it wouldn't hold up under these circumstances.

Sure enough, Rey shook her head, giving me a glance of sorrow, " _Everything_ is offline. I can't even get any readings on the life support."

"Damn it." Finn muttered above us.

I couldn't help the groan that erupted from my mouth, "What is it now?"

"It's the First Order." He said quickly, hopping down onto the ground and making a motion with his hand, "We have to get away."

"I just said we can't." Rey said just as fast, irritancy in her voice from the need to repeat herself.

It always amazed me how slowly I registered things even when they were said right to my face. "Wait," I paused their conversation, "the First Order has us?"

Finn nodded, "And they're gonna board the minute we are fully docked with them."

I sighed, "Well, should we hide?"

"They have sensors." Finn scoffed, completely sounding like defeat was inevitable. "They would find us before we had a chance to play a quick round of Sabaacc."

"What about the gas?" I exclaimed, turning to Rey as a brilliant idea formed in my head.

"I fixed it." Rey gave me a confused look, her dark eyes gazing into mine. She tried to see what I saw. To understand what I meant before I explained it. To know what I thought.

"Can you unfix it?" I asked, cracking a smirk, "They wouldn't see it coming."

Rey blinked, "How do we know that would work? They have helmets."

"Their helmet filter out smokes, not toxins." Finn said quickly, his face containing new confidence that was once never there. But, behind that mask I could still see the doubt swirling around in his mind.

Not only that, but I could _feel_ it. My hands felt clammy all of a sudden as if I was the one going through an interrogation with my mother. Fear stuck to my mind like a magnet to a fridge, but it belonged not to me, but to the man at my side.

This wasn't the first time I had felt something I shouldn't have been able to, but it was the first time I had an inkling as to what it meant, instead of just writing it off as my own superstitions.

"There's your answer, girl." I said, leaping out of my seat and running back into the grated area where we had suffered problems moments before.

Quickly, the grate was moved and Finn jumped in. BB-8 rolled up behind me, tapping my leg with its domed head. It let out one harmonious beep in question, one that I already knew.

"We're just gonna do something a bit drastic." I muttered to the droid, wrapping my arms around the ball droid and lifting it up a bit off the floor, almost immediately regretting the decision once the full weight rested upon my forearms, "Hold onto Finn."

Without warning, I dumped the droid into Finn's arms. Luckily, he caught the droid in time, but still fell onto his rear from the sheer bulk of the droid. Small or not, metal was heavy when contained in such a shape.

A clang brought my gaze from BB-8 – the droid that held the fate of the galaxy – to the doorframe where Stormtroopers would ram in at any moment. Electronics sparked against a wall panel. It wasn't hard to see what was happening, nor was it hard to determine how much time was left.

Rey leaped into the hole, "Where are the masks!?"

My eyes roamed around the room before they landed on a set of six breathing masks with attachable rebreathers. Once I obtained three of them, I came sliding back across the metal flooring, dumping the masks in.

Rey attached hers to her face, then swiped her hand at me, scraping at my wrist, "Get in! Quickly!"

I nodded, reaching over and grabbing the blaster I had "commandeered" before I made my way into the service hole. Without wasting any time, I pulled the grate over our heads just as the door's locking mechanism gave way and flew up.

Silence followed, not even a small beep from BB-8 to attract any unwanted attention from the enemy. Rey went to work, reaching her hand into the control port that contained the nasty gas. I could see she was nearly at where she wanted to be when she bumped against Finn's side, causing him to shimmy against the tools to his side, causing them to clatter loudly.

"Damn." I mumbled, ripping the mask off my face as the grate was pulled off, light shining through the gap in the flooring. My weapon was pointed up in an instance, my finger on the trigger, ready to blast the heads off of some white helmeted bastards. But, I halted my actions.

Above me towered a Wookiee with a pelt that showed that age was a factor on their evolutionary cycle. A bowcaster was laid in its hands, pointed straight at us. A sash of metal was lain across its chest, wrapping around to come together on the other side of his body.

Next to the massive creature was an old guy, his hair matted almost perfectly in two directions, one being favored more than the other but still perfect. A faded brown jacket surrounded a white undershirt, covering the body of a seasoned veteran. In his hand was a DL model blaster, directed at us for maximum support.

His face, however, was the clinching factor that made me lowered the weapon in my hands. Though, in truth, I had enough angled in my direction to disarm me in a dozen other ways.

Han Solo spoke, his voice just as grizzled as his face, "Toss up the blaster, kid. And keep your hands where I can see them."

Dismissing the insult, I threw the weapon up onto the flooring while having my hands in his sight line.

"Where's the pilot?" He turned to look at Rey, his stare icy cold.

 _The years have not been good on you, Harrison…Damn it. I mean Solo._ I thought, eyeing the scar across his chin as well as the tired look in his eyes. It wasn't as bad as I imagined though. The trailers and propaganda for the movie suggested that not all was right for the man, but perhaps that chapter of his story wouldn't have to be so bad anymore.

"I'm the pilot." Rey uttered out, hands braced against the back of the metal wall for some random support. It was as if Solo's words would have pushed her onto the floor at any moment.

"You?" Han almost scoffed in disbelief. Finally, he ushered us out of the hole and onto the metal flooring, but BB-8 stayed behind, under the action so to speak.

"Where'd you get this ship?" Han asked next, his blaster now holstered at his side. I looked towards my gun on the ground and for the slightest moment I thought I could reach it, but then thought better of it when looking at the behemoth standing beside it.

"Nima Outpost." Rey said quickly.

"From Unkar Plutt." I put in, making Solo turn his gaze to me as I continued, "He was letting it just sit there so we stole it."

"This ship?" Solo clarified. "This ship was stolen."

"By us." Rey nodded, "Plutt stole it from Ducain."

"Who stole it from me." Han said exasperatedly, walking away toward the cockpit, "Well, you tell him that Han Solo stole back the Millennium Falcon back for good!"

 _Ah, so this is how the plot comes together._ I thought, letting a smirk rise to my face. Again, my gaze turned to my gun and I looked up at Chewbacca, "Mind if I get that, bud?"

The towering Wookiee gave me a glance before he took a half step away from the weapon while uttering a primal sound. It could have been a type of barking noise, but it couldn't be called a roar by any standards just yet.

I picked up the gun and slung it around my shoulder by its strap, "Thanks."

Rey almost jumped forward a second later, excitement lighting up her face like lights on a Christmas tree, "This is the Millennium Falcon?! You're Han Solo?!"

Han stopped, turning to face her, and consequently all of us, "I used to be." He muttered non-too happily.

"Han Solo? The Rebellion General?" Finn asked, breaking his long silence. In truth, he was probably just gathering his bearings from relief. He _was_ expecting his old loyalties to come barging in, guns blazing.

Rey turned to face him, "No!" She sounded almost deterred, "The smuggler."

Finn instinctively turned to Chewbacca, "Isn't he a war hero?"

Chewbacca just shrugged at that question like he couldn't deny nor agree with him. That made me laugh aloud, causing the Wookiee to regard me for a second before setting his sights back on the scavenger in the room.

Rey turned to the doorway of the cockpit where Solo had disappeared off too, "This is the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs?!"

"Twelve!" Both I and Solo shouted at the same time.

Rey looked at me, "How did you know that?" She asked.

I scratched the back of my head innocently, " _Everybody_ in the entire galaxy has heard about that legendary run!"

"I like that kid." Han's voice echoed from the cockpit. Then, he came back out, "Hey! Some buff-nut installed a compressor."

"I thought it was a mistake too because it puts – "Too much stress on the hyperdrive."

Both Rey and Han echoed each other that time, but this time Han looked more rebuttled by such a response that mirrored his own. I wouldn't have called the look he gave Rey annoyed, but it sure as hell wasn't pleasant.

"Well, Chewie lock in coordinates for the nearest station so we can drop these kids off." Han said, walking away.

Rey quickly followed with me, Finn, and Chewbacca in tow, "You can't!"

Han chuckled, "I can and I will."

"Hey." I interjected, "Even though this is your ship, we still have a mission to complete."

"What mission could a couple of kids like yourselves have?" Han scoffed. The look in his eyes told me that he didn't believe a word that was coming out of our mouths.

BB-8 whistled as it rolled up behind us. It swiveled upon its ball and shook, giving out another round of beeps and noises that resembled something like anxiety from a distressed creature.

"We have to get this BB-8 unit to the Resistance." Rey said firmly, gesturing to the orange and white ball droid.

"You can do that from the station." Han said dismissively, walking away again through the corridors.

"We need your help." Finn said, "He's carrying a map to Luke Skywalker."

Han halted his step the moment the words came out of Finn's mouth.

"You _are_ the Han Solo that fought with the Rebellion." Finn said as Han faced him fully, a look of recognition as well as sadness washing over the old smuggler's face. It was as if someone had opened up a wound that he had tried to stitch shut...by himself. There was nothing about how he moved that said Leia was anywhere close...just like their relationship, I realized.

Finn continued, "You knew him, didn't you."

Somberly, Han nodded, "I knew him. I knew Luke. And now, he's gone."

My own steps halted as well as I stared hard at the former trooper. The whole air turned still and quiet as if someone had pushed the pause button on life itself and let the existence hang in the air, teetering on the balance that was creation itself.

 _That's what BB-8 holds! A map to Skywalker. He_ is _gone…but why?_ I thought, my thoughts raging like an inferno. _There is no way he would just disappear like that. It isn't like his character, unless something terrible happened. And Han's face speaks volumes..._

Distantly, but surely, I heard a voice whisper past my ear and fall onto the wind.

 _"_ _What you know, you must keep. You must help fix what will happen. Save what will be lost forever."_

 _Yoda?_ I almost uttered his name, but I stopped myself. _No…that voice isn't his. This presence though…is this…_

It was bright and there, circulating around me. However, whatever brightness it held was almost overshadowed by the sadness and guilt behind it. Whatever I thought was possible to be held within one's heart was thrashed in that moment. New levels of pain and sorrow were brought upon me. But, there was a sense of responsibility and bravado that cut through like a knife slicing through butter.

And, then, I knew whose voice it was.

 _Obi Wan…_


End file.
